Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
Small changes and a canoe trip.
One small change really can trigger a host of others.
Just a few weeks ago I set a hiking goal for the first week of July (and convinced several people to come with). Since then I have re-entered the gym for regular workouts, taken up pilates, had several outdoor hikes and plus started periodically walking to work. This week I booked an appointment with a trainer for posture and alignment analysis and I cut wheat from my diet.
My goals have expanded from just being able to do a 5-day hike again to overall health, posture and diet – not to mention getting the thyroid nodules under control and boosting its function. And now that I am re-engaged on a path of wellness, I can acknowledge that I also want a better body at the end of it all. A more energized and more youthful body, not to mention a slimmer one. Or at least a more toned one.
This is not a first-time endeavour for me – not by a long shot. I have been in better and worse and better and worse shape for the last twenty years. It’s a bit of a cycle, as it is for all of us who don’t naturally gravitate towards athletics (and those of us who like bread, cheese and wine a little too much). This brings a bag of mixed feelings each time I re-enter the gym.
On the one hand, I’ve got myself in shape before, so I know it can be done. On the other, I’ve got myself in shape before and then got out of shape again, so what’s the point?
I think the point is not letting the out of shape become the rest of my life slide into poor health by the age of sixty. And also, I got more hiking to do!
This past Easter Sunday, Brian and I grabbed a friend and drove out to Pitt Lake where we canoed up Widgeon Slough and then hiked 6 km to Widgeon Falls and back. Brian dislikes hiking unless there is a “point” – ie, something of an adventure or a picnic at the end – so combining a canoe trip with a hike *and* a picnic is something he can get behind. Turns out, the falls are an incredible place to have lunch – some of the nicest I have been to with lots of great smooth rock face for picnicking on. And the canoe trip up is pretty sweet too.
It’s a process, this getting back into the body, and it’s important to pepper that with reminders of what is out there to see and do. We’ve had such amazing weather on the coast these past two weeks – which has certainly aided my mood to get outside and hit the trails – and I’m taking advantage of all the great resources I have around me in order to stay positive and increasingly ramp myself back up to speed.
While I am not making any big pronouncements or promises – I am hopeful that the shot at the head of this post will become a “before” shot reminder of where I started. Happy yes! Mobile and somewhat agile – yes! But also not in the shape I want to be. At forty, I know I can do a lot better.
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Red Cedar 
I am beginning a daily regime of yoga and walking or hiking. Both are something I let slip.